Cinema as independent art formCitizen Kane

Times of propaganda• Sergei Eisenstein• Leni Riefenstahl "Triumph of the Will”

• Wartime Hollywood• - many crude propaganda films with

crass stereotyping• - but also more nuanced narratives• Casablanca

Great masterpiece• Special place in the history of

American cinema• Greatly innovative – combines

many techniques used separately before.

• Story told in a very characteristic way.

• Innovative use of cinematography as well as mise-en-scene.

Visionary• Citizen Kane was directed and written

by 26-year-old Orson Welles (1915-1987),

• He also stars as the title character• Welles came to the attention of

Hollywood because of his infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast

The other important figure

• Gregg Toland• cinematographer

Makeup

Low angle shots

high angle shot

Deep focus

deep focus

shallow focus

Story• William Randolph Hearst• Press magnate with political

ambitions and colorful private life.• Hearst practically blocked Well’s

career in Hollywood.

Complex narrative structure• Can be confusing:

o the film begins with the death of the main charactero the story of his life is told from multiple points of view

“News on the March” • newsreel (a miniature version of the rest of the film) • Followed by five narratives told as flashbacks

Same story from different angles

• Entries from the diary of Mr. Thatcher• (Kane’s legal guardian)

• Interview with Mr. Bernstein (Kane’s business partner)

• Interview with Jed Leland (Kane’s one-time closest friend)

• Interview with Susan Alexander (Kane’s second wife)

• Interview with Raymond, Kane’s butler.

the reporterThe newspaper reporter who takes the audience on this quest is always turned away from the camera or shrouded in shadows as he conducts his interviews.

He becomes a stand-in for

the audience, often

appearing only as a

silhouetted head in the

lower right corner of the

frame.

Throughout the film we are limited to the knowledge that each narrator has about Kane, so the point of view changes with eachnew narrator.

Casablanca• The setting – atmosphere, refugees, war far away yet impact

perceptible• Characters:

o Rick Blane (Humprey Bogart), Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman)

• Public good over private desire.

Film noir• Post-war optimism and economic boom in

the USA, newly-found confidence. America: key player in international politics.

• “Tinsletown” – celebration of prosperity and triumph, also celebration of national values through the triumph of law and order.

• But also a dark mirror – many of the pioneers came from Germany (escaped from Hitler), brought traditions of German impressionism.

• Peak of popularity 1940s and 1950s.

Film noir• Atmosphere of desperation and paranoia.• No happy ending.• Authority questioned: corrupt policemen, soldiers or

politicians.• Beautiful seducers – femmes fatales.• Main characters: lonely types often criminals.• Urban setting

City spaces• shot on location rather than sets build in the studio

(previously dominant form).• Use of authentic spaces.• Lighter, faster cameras.

Neorealism• Italian movement – first significant development in the post-

war European cinema. Movement of huge importance and impact.

• Cesare Zavattini• Vittorio De Sica• Roberto Rosselini (Rome, Open City)• Luchino Visconti

Neorealism• On location shooting.• Use of non-professional actors.• Working life characters and communities.• Telling story through take rather than cut.• Sense of defeat and exploitation – social conscience.• sympathy for the common people

Bicycle Thieves

1950s the Hitchcock Era• Alfred Hitchcock – one of the

most famous directors ever.• Master of Suspense• famous for meticulous

storyboarding.• The advent of colour• slow adaptation of the new

technology: coexistence/